The
Aging Brain: Failure to CommunicateDecember
5, 2007 — A team of Howard Hughes Medical
Institute researchers has shown that normal aging disrupts communication
between different regions of the brain.

Second phase of
HapMap project is completedOctober
17, 2007 — Investigators from six countries
have completed the second phase of the International HapMap Project,
an effort to identify and catalog genetic similarities and differences
among populations around the world.

Medical
school departments, department heads often have industry relationships
October
16, 2007 — A study from the MGH Institute
for Health Policy finds that institutional academic-industry relationships
- financial relationships companies have with medical schools or
teaching hospitals rather than with individual physicians or scientists
- are as common and pervasive as individual relationships.

Researchers
Develop Targeted Approach to Pain ManagementOctober
3, 2007 — Imagine an epidural or a shot of
Novocain that doesn't paralyze your legs or make you numb, yet totally
blocks your pain. This type of pain management is now within reach
thanks to researchers at MGH and Harvard Medical School.

MIT
research helps convert brain signals into actionOctober
2, 2007 — MIT researchers have developed a
new algorithm to help create prosthetic devices that convert brain
signals into action in patients who have been paralyzed or had limbs
amputated. The lead author is also an MGH researcher.

NIH
Director Invests in Innovation, New InvestigatorsSeptember
18, 2007 — NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni,
M.D., is making a major investment in the future of science with
five-year grants totaling more than $105 million to 41 exceptionally
innovative investigators, many of whom are in the early stages of
their careers.

Skin as a
living coloring bookSeptember
6, 2007 — The question of how melanin is delivered
to appropriate locations may have been answered by a study from
researchers at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cutaneous
Biology Research Center (CBRC).

Genomic
tour de force for diabetes
April 26, 2007  Scientists today announced the discovery
of three unsuspected regions of human DNA that contain clear genetic
risk factors for type 2 diabetes and another that is associated
with elevated blood triglycerides.

Overcrowded
hospitals may risk adverse events on busiest days
April 23, 2007  Hospitals that operate at or over their
capacity may be at increased risk of adverse events that injure
patients, suggesting that efforts to meet two challenges facing
hospitals today - reducing costs and improving patient safety -
may work against each other.

MGH
research award helps women establish scientific careers
February 26, 2007  A program that provides modest research
funding to women initiating careers in medical research has produced
significant results in helping recipients both stay in academic
research and establish groundwork for securing future research funding.